Nashville People in Business

Dr. Christi A. Witherspoon with Summit Medical Associates in Hermitage has been awarded a 2012 Patients Choice Award for her excellence in patient care. She is also part-time medical director at APS Healthcare. Witherspoon specializes in internal medicine.

Steve Hays, chairman of Gobbell Hays Partners, has received the 2012 Mortimer M. Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Institute of Building Sciences. This honor recognizes Hays for his research, work and dedication to the improvement of building sciences.

Communication

Melinda Dale has been named account executive at KVBPR. She will continue her current responsibilities overseeing social media management and media relations strategies for clients. Dale joined KVBPR in 2011.

Journal Communications Inc. has hired Matt Carmichael as vice president and editor of Livability.com, a new position for the national relocation and travel website. Carmichael specializes in demographics, consumer trends and urban issues. He was most recently the senior director of research and data at Crain Communications' Chicago Business.

Shelby Adams has been promoted to director of communications for Skanska's Midwest and Texas regions. Adams' previous title was regional manager of communications.

Design

Big Frog Custom T-Shirts has promoted Lina Heard to regional store manager. Heard joined the Big Frog team as a graphic artist in 2011.

Deane, Smith & Partners, a full-service PR, marketing, design and technology firm, has added Jamie Crosby as a graphic designer to its expanding web and print design team. Crosby most recently served as a consumer/small and medium business inside sales representative with Dell Computers and also has extensive experience in technology and graphic design.

Engineering and construction

Patti Trapp has been promoted to director of quality at Mercury Marine. Trapp has held various quality and engineering positions within the Brunswick Boat Group and Mercury Marine for the past nine years.

Bert Booy has been promoted to vice president of preconstruction at Skanska USA. Booy, who has 17 years of construction industry experience, has been with Skanska for 12 years.

Groups

Saddle Up has announced the members and officers of its board of directors and members of its advisory board. Elected as officers for 2013 are: Ken Wilmes (Tractor Supply Co.) as board president, Jeff Wagner (LP Building Products) as vice president, Elizabeth Lewis (Bridgestone Americas Inc.) as board secretary, Mary Beth Gates (CPA) as board treasurer and Jill Bosse (Allergan) as immediate past president. New board members are Jill Bosse of Allergan and Anna Freeman of the Law Office of Anna Freeman. Continuing to serve on the board are: Nancy Bass of Bytes of Knowledge, Cathy Stewart Brown, William A. Caldwell of Ortale, Kelley, Herbert & Crawford, Kelly Cox of High Hopes, Mark Dietze of Trillium Ventures Inc., Quick Foy of American Constructors Inc., Sarah Ingram, Karen MalinGarfield of SunCrest Healthcare, Lisa McInturff, Art Napolitano of Deutsche Bank, Deborah Newman, Janet Nock of Cardinal Health and Kristy Williams of The Heritage Foundation.

United Neighborhood Health Services has elected its new board of directors for 2013. Board president is Glenn Hunter, director of special services at TutorTech Group. Other officers elected are: Brenda Morrow (Edgehill Family Resource Center) as vice president, Mary Owens (community volunteer) as secretary and Ken McKnight (Regional Housing Facilitator) as treasurer. Returning 2013 board members are: Denise Alper; Jennifer Hamilton of the Metro General Hospital; Marc Hill of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce; Robert Mason, Shirley McClendon and Scott Mertie of Kraft CPAs; and Ronnie Steine of the Nashville Metro Council. New to the board are community volunteers Mary Robertson and Paul Bennett.

Centerstone Research Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving behavioral health care through research and information technology, announced the members and officers who will serve on its 2013-2014 board of directors. Members include: Joan Sivley (former health care executive) as chairman; Janet Ayers (president of The Ayers Foundation) as vice-chairman; Ken Shidler (career counselor of Indiana University Kelley School of Business Career Center) as secretary; Steve Bryant, executive director of Gayle and Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship at Ivy Tech Community College Bloomington, as immediate past chairman; Dr. Tom Doub, CEO of Centerstone Research Institute; Trish Lindler, former senior vice president of government programs at HCA; Tom Mahler, retired Air Force colonel and Honeywell Technology Solutions; Gil Palmer, agent at State Farm Insurance; Nedda Pollack, former executive at Regions Bank; and Deborah Taylor Tate, special envoy for child online protection at International Telecommunications Union.

The board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati has named two new members to its 2013 advisory council and reappointed four members, guiding the boards on housing needs and programs in its Fifth District territory of Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. Joining the advisory council are: Kenneth "Jay" Kittenbrink, executive director of Episcopal Retirement Homes in Cincinnati, and Laura B. Sinclair, chief program officer of the Tennessee Housing Development Agency in Nashville. Reappointed to the advisory council are: Donald R. Ball, chairman of Ball Homes in Lexington, Ky; Terry W. Cunningham, executive director of Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority in Kingsport, Tenn.; Linda G. Leathers, executive director and CEO at The Next Door in Nashville; and Deborah W. Williams, executive director at Housing Assistance and Development Services in Bowling Green, Ky.

Health care

Dr. Maria Overstreet has joined the Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia as director of center for clinical simulation. Overstreet, who has more than two decades of nursing and education experience, also is an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University's School of Nursing. She also operates her own simulation consulting business.

Dr. Barton W. Huddleston has joined Center for Spine, Joint and Neuromuscular Rehabilitation. Huddleston is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain medicine.

Aegis Sciences Corporation, one of the nation's leading forensic and healthcare toxicology laboratories, announced executive changes for three members of its senior executive team: Beverly Cawthon has been promoted to chief operating officer, Jeff Fisher has been promoted to chief culture officer, and Dr. Timothy A. Robert has been promoted to chief scientific officer. Cawthon has served as Aegis' vice president of operations and health care laboratory. Fisher previously served as Aegis' vice president of finance and human resources. Robert formerly served as vice president of forensic laboratories and research and development.

Dr. John Proctor has been appointed to the Joint Commission Ambulatory Accreditation Professional and Technical Advisory Committee, representing emergency medicine. Proctor is president of TEAMHealth's midsouth division in Brentwood.

Karen Good has been named director of pediatric services for TriStar Centennial Women's & Children's Hospital. Good previously served as manager of the pediatric emergency department and trauma center for Children's National Medical Center in Washington, where she also oversaw the opening of a satellite emergency department.

Law

Bill Alexander has been elected 2013 president for the 156-year-old Nashville Swiss Society. Other elected officers are: Tom Moor as vice president, Georgann Waddey as treasurer and Ellen Taylor as secretary. Elected board members are: Jane Becker, Ed Carter and Charlene Thoni.

Dickinson Wright attorney Kelly Frey, a member in the firm's Nashville office and general counsel to the Board of the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association, just released an eBook titled "Ethics & Compliance Issues" as part of the Execsense Digital Thought Leadership series. The book focuses on the importance of integrity to a modern leader's success and the success of the leader's company. It examines how negative headlines related to the integrity of leaders undermine shareholder confidence, shareholder value and corporate sustainability of the institutions they lead.

Nonprofit

Centerstone Research Institute has promoted four of its professionals. Dr. Kathryn Bowen has been named vice president for research and evaluation. Dr. April Bragg has been named vice president for research advancement. Jan Goodson has been named vice president for grant writing and research communications. Christina VanRegenmorter has been named director of the Center for Clinical Excellence and National Policy.

Evidenced-based student assistance program Students Taking A Right Stand has announced the additions of the following new board members: Bryan Edwards, president of Hughes-Edwards Builders; Brook Meyer, vice president of national sales desk at Jackson National Life Distributors; Chris Sabis, assistant United States attorney for the Department of Justice; and Dr. Bernard Turner, director/assistant professor at Belmont University's Center for Social Entrepreneurship.

Real estate

Dennis Stafford, a real estate sales professional, has joined the Keller Williams Realty Spring Hill Market Center. Stafford retired from General Motors after 31 years of service.

Laura Dahl has joined Benchmark Realty as an agent. She is a member of the Williamson County Association of Realtors. Dahl serves Davidson and surrounding counties.

Krystyna Hayles has joined the Green Hills office of Zeitlin & Co., Realtors as a new affiliate broker. Hayles has more than two decades of experience in the real estate business.

Real estate professionals Matt Daniel and Dianne Christian announced this week the establishment of a new company in historic downtown Franklin. Daniel-Christian Real Estate is at 202 Fifth Ave. S. Christian has been a leader in residential home sales for nearly 30 years.

Watchfire Signs, a premier manufacturer of outdoor LED signs and digital billboards, has recognized Ben Doeden as on-premise sales representative of the year. Doeden was recognized for providing the highest level of sales support and customer service to Watchfire's network of sign dealer partners during 2012.

Chris Mandel has joined Sedgwick as senior vice president at Strategic Solutions. In this newly created position, Mandel will be responsible for identifying growth and expansion opportunities driven by a clear view into the needs of customers and future customers.